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as albion midfielder, steven reid, observed after this match at bloomfield road, the baggies may take more positives and as yet unseen advantages from what was a pretty wierd match, and which conspired to end the baggies eight-game unbeaten streak.i must admit, i was really pleased and impressed with roberto di matteo's team selection and especially glad that simon cox was included in the starting side. cox rightfully deserved the chance with graham dorrans yet to find playing form this season, and james morrison out with an injury. so cox had really earned the chance given his terrific goal scoring form in the LEAGUE CUP.
this looked set to be a classic between two surprising teams who've played some of the most consistently exciting football in the PREMIER LEAGUE this year after both came into the league as CHAMPIONSHIP promotion winners last season. with full international TV coverage, two excellent managers and a chance to show the world their enterprising and attacking brands of football, blackpool v. west brom on a monday night looked to be perfect fare with all the ingredients for a big occasion.
but, and as dave bowler of ALBION RADIO noted before the kick-off, there had to be some concerns about the match being put under the charge of the PREMIER LEAGUE's youngest referee, and his ability to control the game in the face of such an auspicious occassion. his concerns proved prophetic as the 25-year-old ref, michael oliver, was completely out of his depth, went "card-happy" at the first difficult decision and soured what might have otherwise been a really entertaining match.
both sides started out showing enterprising attacking games and simon cox tested the tangerines' goalie, matt gilks, from an acute angle early on.
the match swung wildly with just ten minutes gone as d.j. campbell got on the end of a long through ball in the albion penalty area. the blackpool striker pushed the ball forward on a single stride and past the last defender, pablo ibanez, before running into the baggies centre-half, who was marking him perilously closely. campbell went down and was quite incredibly awarded a penalty decision. however, it rather appeared that if anyone had been fouled it was ibanez, and the ref should probably have waved play on.
but it was a bad call and i think that young mr. oliver knew it pretty quickly. however - and seeing as how he hadn't consulted either the linesman or fourth official - he should just have followed through with the consequence of his mistake, got on with the game, allow for the subsequent penalty kick to be taken and leave it at that. but, i believe that mr. oliver panicked, and feeling the need to reinforce his decision (and make demonstration of his control of the match), issued a direct red card to the spanish centre-half and sent the match in a bad direction. the young man was clearly out of his depth and it showed on his face.
the penalty was a poor enough call, but i think everyone could've probably lived with it. bad calls are part of the game. that has always been my stance on the issue of how matches are refereed. like i said, i could've lived with the penalty - and even a yellow card, if he really felt it necessary to back up his point as to who was in control of the match; but the red-card was a complete injustice and i will be surprised if the baggies don't appeal the decision.
di matteo's only immediate change was to bring off simon cox and bring on steven reid to fill in at centre-half. this for me was the really unfortunate aspect of the red card against pablo ibanez. as it denied simon cox an opportunity that won't come around too often. i have to really feel for the young striker who is the victim of some really miserable fortune and his performances in the LEAGUE CUP continue to go unrewarded as far as a starting place in league fixtures go.
the albion looked comfortable enough for the next 15-20 minutes, allowed blackpool most of the possession and settled into their new defensive shape, with striker, marc-antoine fortune dropping back to cover the central midfield.
a few hard challenges saw the game begin to get a little heated with youssouf mulumbu picking up a yellow card. luke varney, the blackpool striker, went about trying to provoke one or two of the baggies' players - to see if (among other things) he could goad the congolese midfielder into a committing a second bookable offense. the albion were still rattled by the red-card and not really creatively adjusted to playing with only 10-men. they could not, it seemed, get over the sense of injustice or shake the feeling that the occasion had been soured.
this all changed, when just on half-an-hour gone, albion right-back, gonzalo jara, lost it with varney and in a moment of madness, recklessly went in with a full-on, studs-up, two-footed tackle when the blackpool forward had got himself harmlessly trapped near the corner-flag and actually looked to have taken the ball into touch. quite rightly, jara was shown an immediate red-card and the baggies were left now down to 9 men. it immediately put things in perspective and it felt as if all was about to go from bad to worse.
however, di matteo's strategic substitution of graham dorrans for fortune was a masterful piece of resource management and team selection. the scottish international, who has not had an opportunity to find any real form this season, came on and made obvious what the gaffer should have done at the advent of the first red card.
with graham dorrans coming on to spearhead a strikerless formation, it was evident by half-time that if the baggies had gone 4-5-0 before jara's red-card, they would have easily been able to get a draw and would probably have won the match. the albion - and their travelling support - came back for a second-half with loads of optimism and the intent of nicking a point from what was still a 1-0 score-line.
it was in the second-half that the baggies began to play some truly inspired and entertaining football. with only 8 out-field players in a 4-4-0 formation, they had to withstand a 60-40 per cent disadvantage in possession, but held the tangerines for over half-an-hour before conceding the second and - what would turn out to be - winning goal on an overlapping run by reg varney, finally taking advantage of a stretched albion backline.
it really didn't matter, because by that point the baggies looked to have taken all the positives they could from such adverse conditions. graham dorrans had been given an ideal forum in which to work his way back into some much needed game-form, and the team's performance over the course of the game had the travelling supporters in full voice, filled with pride and thoroughly entertained. it may, in fact, have been the turning point of roberto di matteo's career at the hawthorn's, as the valiant efforts of the nine-man albion side and the intelligent reserve of the gaffer, worked to forge a deeper bond between squad and supporter than has been at the club in the long time.
youssouf mulumbu, who was really the standout player of the match, single-handedly got a goal back in the 85th minute. taking control of the ball just outside the blackpool penalty area, the congolese midfielder came forward into space and smashed the ball past matt gilks. suddenly - and quite surprisingly - the baggies were back in the match.
the albion pressed for the equalizer and scott carson even came forward for one of the last corner kicks. graham dorrans got on the end of a late free-kick, but the ball stuck under his feet just in front of goal and was only able to set up a shot for steven reid, who looked certain to score and produce the unlikeliest of results, but slipped on the greasy bloomfield road pitch and put the ball over the bar.
the game was gone, but the valiant effort of the nine-man albion had not only produced an entertaining match and come close to getting a result, but they may have written the beginning of a new chapter in west bromwich albion folk-lore. the players that took part in this game have a created a tremendous sense of camaraderie going into next weekend's home game with manchester city. both the supporters and the team seem like they're up for anything at the moment.
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